Paterson high school teacher accused of offering money for sex appearing in court Wednesday

PATERSON — A 50-year-old high school accounting instructor charged with offering a male student $50 in exchange for sex will make a first appearance before a Superior Court judge on Wednesday, according to First Asst. Passaic County Prosecutor Joseph Del Russo.

Thomas Weir, the John F. Kennedy High School instructor, is being held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail at the Bergen County Jail.

Weir was arrested in the parking lot of a restaurant Saturday as he arrived for what he expected would be a pre-arranged meeting with the student, authorities said.

The arrest followed an investigation by the county prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Internet Crimes against Children Unit and the Paterson Public Schools Department of School Security.

Weir, who has been employed by the Paterson Board of Education for 21 years and earns an annual salary of $97,858, was suspended with pay, said Terry Corallo, the school district communications director. Weir has been at JFK for about a year as an accounting instructor, Corallo said.

The Monticello, N.Y., resident was charged with attempted sexual assault, attempted endangering the welfare of a child, luring and enticing a child, and official misconduct, according to Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik. He was being held on $500,000 bail at the Passaic County Jail in Paterson, said Bill Maer, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

The case started with a Facebook exchange between Weir and the JFK student “over a period of time,” according to Del Russo. “It was not explicit, but it was clear from the tone and direction of the outreach where the teacher was going with this,” Del Russo said.

The student became offended and brought the matter to school officials, who alerted the sheriff’s office, Del Russo said. From that point, the prosecutor said, it became an undercover operation, with an investigator serving as a “foil” to continue the communication.

The prosecutor said Weir arranged to meet the student at a local restaurant and offered him $50 in exchange for sex. Detectives arrested Weir in the restaurant parking lot.

Each of the four counts carries a maximum 10-year term in state prison.

In 2004, Weir was charged with criminal sexual contact with male student at Passaic County Community College, where he was a math teacher at the time. He was acquitted of the charge in May, 2005.